Food products manufactured for public consumption are often modified by adding nutritional or other types of supplements in order to enhance their nutritional properties. Nutritional fortification of cheese products may include supplementation with trace requirements or additives that benefit the overall state of health of the human body. Examples of nutritional fortification include supplementation by vitamins, minerals, and comparable materials. These supplements are either absolutely essential for human metabolism or enhance the provision of substances that may not be available in sufficient amounts in a normal diet.
In recent years, calcium supplementation or fortification of foods, including cheeses, has received significant attention. Although cheese is a good source of calcium, increasing the calcium levels in cheese may provide additional benefits to the consumer. Increased calcium intake is reported to be especially useful in the prevention or moderating the effects of osteoporosis.
Increased dietary intake of calcium has been shown to be effective in minimizing bone loss in the elderly. Moreover, increased consumption of calcium earlier in life may build reserves that enable a greater tolerance of a negative calcium balance in later years. Increased consumption of calcium, regardless of age, is expected to mitigate or delay the effects of osteoporosis. Thus, persons of all ages could benefit from increased calcium consumption. Unfortunately, the elderly--the very group who might receive the most benefit--often have difficulty in increasing their calcium consumption due to decreasing appetites and metabolism. Thus, increasing the amount of calcium in food products, especially to levels which allows significant calcium intake in spite of reduced overall food intake, is especially important for the elderly population.
A large number of calcium compounds or salts have been used to fortify or supplement food products. Calcium salts which have been suggested for use or have been used as food supplements include, for example, calcium pyrophosphate, calcium hexametaphosphate, monobasic calcium phosphate, calcium glycerophosphate, tricalcium phosphate, calcium ascorbate, calcium citrate, calcium carbonate, calcium gluconate, calcium lactate, calcium malate, calcium oxide, calcium hydroxide, calcium sulfate, calcium acetate, calcium ascorbate, calcium tartarate, calcium malate, and calcium chloride.
These calcium supplements have been used in a wide variety of food products. U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,871 (Nov. 15, 1988) provided a calcium fortified yogurt. According to the patent, any calcium compound which is acid soluble could be used. U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,523 (Sep. 12, 1995) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,903 (Oct. 13, 1998) also provided calcium-enriched yogurts. U.S. Pat. No. 5,478,587 (Dec. 27, 1995) provided calcium-enriched deserts.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,834,045 (Nov. 10, 1998) provided calcium fortified acid beverages. This patent reported that the use of a calcium source comprising calcium hydroxide and calcium glycerophosphate with any acidulant will result in a beverage product having a marked improvement in storage stability. U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,936 (Jan. 5, 1999) provided a blend of calcium salts balanced with soluble and insoluble salts which are stabilized with a source of glucuronic acid. This composition is capable of fortifying milk beverages and other dairy-based products without coagulation and sedimentation, and with improved palatability. The calcium salts must be stabilized with the glucuronic acid source. Other calcium sources could optionally be included. Other calcium-enriched beverages are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,238 (Feb. 10, 1987; dietary and nutritionally balanced drinks); U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,329 (Oct. 20, 1987; milk); U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,380 (Apr. 26, 1988; soft drinks); U.S. Pat. No. 4,871,554 (Oct. 3, 1989; fruit drink); U.S. Pat. No. 4,851,243 (Jul. 25, 1989; milk); U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,814 (Jun. 20, 1989; milk); U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,482 (Mar. 6, 1990; soy milk); U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,589 (Mar. 14, 1995; milk); U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,975 (Nov. 25, 1997; fermented milk); U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,596 (Jan. 28, 1997; low pH beverage); U.S. Pat. No. 5,780,081 (Jul. 14, 1998; milk); U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,691 (Jul. 27, 1999; milk); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,892 (Apr. 27, 1999; milk base products).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,583 (Jun. 16, 1987) provided a calcium-enriched soy bean curd. U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,387 (May 7, 1996) provided calcium enriched crackers and other baked goods; an emulsifier was used to avoid adverse effect on texture and mouthfeel. U.S. Pat. No. 5,840,354 (Nov. 24, 1998) provided calcium-enriched dried fruit products. U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,144 (Aug. 31, 1999) provided a calcium fortified pasta product.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,852 (Dec. 28, 1999) relates to a calcium enriched natural cheese. The preferred calcium source is tricalcium phosphate. The patent indicates that other calcium sources (but does not specifically mention any specific sources) can be used so long as the calcium source forms a suspension rather than a solution in water, skim milk, or cheese milk.
Of course, calcium enrichment or fortification can adversely effect the organoleptic properties of the food product to which it is added. Additionally, some calcium compounds have more adverse effects than others. Calcium sulfate has been found to significantly and adversely effect the organoleptic properties of the food product to which it might be added. Calcium sulfate is generally considered too bitter or too strongly flavored to be used at significant levels. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,820,903 and 5,840,354. Tricalcium phosphate, although widely used, often contributes a "gritty" texture which can, of course, limit the level to which it can be included in food product. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,523. Both of these calcium compounds would be desirable to use for calcium fortification of cheese products since they both contain high percentage of calcium: calcium sulfate contains about 29 percent calcium and tricalcium phosphate contains about 39 percent calcium. Moreover, these calcium compounds are relatively inexpensive and, from a cost standpoint, would be attractive for calcium enrichment or fortification.
It would be desirable, therefore, to use both of these compounds in cheese products if the adverse organoleptic properties could be eliminated or significantly reduced. The present invention provides calcium-enrichment compositions which surprisingly and unexpectedly overcome the bitterness normally associated with calcium sulfate and the grittiness normally associated with tricalcium phosphate.